Mossman... I would suggest going with the Hakepeliitas R's. Two things to consider in my opinion with these.

Firstly I think the Nokians will be a better tire over the life of the tread, will stay "sticky" longer through the wear of the tread.

Secondly consider re-seller service. Should you ever wind up with a flat or or a defect tire your probably going to have a much easier time dealing with your local dealer with product you purchased from them than dealing with Tire Rack (even though their service is great). Just consider shipping back and forth etc etc.

Now I don't know what your tire shops are like down in the US, however up here with tires that we bring in, even if you get them installed at a place that deals in that brand (mounted and balanced), the individual shop will not extend warranty coverage to you. For example I purchased new Yokohama tires for my "G" from Tire Rack and got them installed at a shop that sells Yohohama's (all be it at a much higher price) and the shop will not cover them if something goes wrong nor extend me a road warranty. Not a huge deal as I got the tires for almost 1/2 price so I can afford the repairs/replacements should things go sideways. Same goes for free flat repairs etc normally offered by the reseller.

For the $60 and the possibility of better service I think the Hakepeliitas R's are a no brainer.

S.Dunn

 

I have also been looking at winter tires for a while. I have been reading and keep seeing Blizzak and I have had them in the past but with lesser performing cars... and loved them.

Consumer reports has rated tires in both standard winter and performance categories.

What do you think of their assessment?

 

Very good point.... I was leaning towards Hakepelittas anyway but that totally clinches it. Hopefully I don't regret not going performance winter.. I dno't think so though. Performance winter aren't as good. I had them.

Thanks again.

 

I got a quote of $1213 OTD for 205/60/16 Nokian Hakkapeliita R tires mounted on 16" x 6.5" black steel rims from KalTire.

Does anyone know of any other places in Calgary that I can call for a quote for the Nokian R tires?

 

Would like to see their whole assessment...typically Consumer reports provides separate ratings on performance and reliability. I am surprised that the Michelins were rated so much higher than the Blizzaks or the Hakkas. But then again my limited experience with the various michelins I've owned has been this - fantastic tires brand new, but horrible horrible treadwear. None of the michelin tires I've ever owned came close to meeting their suggested tread life.

My buddy sold me on the Hakkas in terms of treadwear, the agressive tread design, and when he blew by me during a winter storm on the Whitemud (Edmonton) - I believe he is going into his 5th winter with the Hakkas on his VW.

As an aside - anyone notice how many people keep their winter tires on all-year round??? Tons of folks in Edmonton do it.

 

I think Kaltire is the only Nokian dealer in Canada...

 

... or anywhere else, for that matter! Go to http://www.nokiantires.com/dealer-locator and select country, state (yeah, I know Calgary is in Canada...) and city. There are 12 dealers shown as a result of a Calgary search, of which 7 are Kal Tire. Doing the math, that gives you 5 others to choose from, but only 1 is actually in Calgary (Deer Valley Tire). The other 4 are in Airdrie, Cochrane, Crossfield and Three Hills.

It would appear you do have some choices, but that may mean a (relatively) short drive. Here in Regina, SK, my choices are Kal Tire, Kal Tire, and, uh, Kal Tire.

 

FWIW, I picked up a set of 4 215/55R17 nearly new, slightly used, unstudded Kumho KW19 mounted on steel rims. Once I sell the rims, my net price will be about what Kal Tire wanted for just 1 Hakka R! I can now put the money I saved into a set of alloy wheels and TPMS sensors.

Photo: http://www.1010tires.com/images/tire...ho_kw19_lg.jpg
Reviews: http://www.1010tires.com/tirereviews..._reviews.html).

 

Deer Valley Tire is also a Kal Tire shop, so I assume all the locations listed on the Nokian website are Kal Tire. The Deer Valley location did however will sell the wheels and tires to me for $65 less than North Hill.

 

Well, I'm going to go shopping for winter tires and rims soon, but I'm not really sure where I should start. My dad is saying Sams Club/Costco will be my best bet. What's the most recommended brand for winter tires? I've heard a lot about "Blizzaks" (sp?). Also, does anyone know the typical cost of those black steelies? Going ghetto for winter.

 

I believe you're looking in the range of $70-80 each for 17" steel wheels. I believe Canadian Tire has them for $70, and Wal*Mart about the same price. No idea what the stealers or the dedicated tire shops charge.

Canadian Tire has at least two different kinds of 17" alloy wheels: Sacchi S2 Gunmetal Rims (described as "Sacchi S2 Hypersilver Rims" but I've seen them 'in the flesh', and the box says Gunmetal, Product #41-7826-6) and Sacchi S12 Hypersilver Rims (Product #41-7777-2). They may not be fancy, but at $109.99 each, they're $40 more than steelies, and a lot better looking.

I just received my Sport Edition SE14 (http://preview.tinyurl.com/4p99yl) wheels from TireRack.com and now I have to decide whether to keep them for my summer wheels, or use them for winter!

 

Just a quick look at consumers reports review you posted. A couple of things catch my eye firstly it seems like all the tires listed are a couple of years old. Ie last year the Bridgestone WS-60 replaced the WS-50 and seems like the 60 has carried over this year. The Nokian Hakka 2 is very old now.

Im not sure where you are or what part of the world you are in so its had to recommend a tire to you, but I think that my replies already cover winter tires and winter performance tires.

The only thing I can think of regarding the low rating of the Nokian tires in the Winter Performance category is that Winter Performance tires are rated differently than just plain winter tires. Im very surprised of their rating in the normal winter category.

Either way Im still a little surprised at how low the Nokians were rated.

I was speaking with my Kal Tire manager. He stated that a few years back they were flown overseas and allowed to test a few different cars. There were three of every model and each car was equipped with either Nokian, Bridgestone or Michelin Tires (winter). There were front and rear drive cars sedans trucks lots and lots of stuff. This was when Nokian was first coming to the north american market. He said that everyone was stunned at how well the Nokians preformed vs the traditional known preferred brands.

As I have stated before no winter tire is a bad choice, but what you need to find is the tire that fits your situation best.

s.dunn

 

I went with the cdn tire 17" black steelies and Hakkas. For $120/rim you can get Kaltire's Evo 7s (at least last winter you could). Weird thing however was that my car was lower with this setup...started scraping a bit at the westend Nissan's oil change pit.

 

FWIW, I recently bought a set of Nokian Hakkapeliitta RSI's (225/50/17) mounted on 17 inch RTX alloy rims from a guy that drove a Mazda RX-8.

He used them only one season and they were in perfect condition, he told me that he went to the Mazda dealership and wanted a winter set up and that's what they gave him. (He requested alloy rims to maintain a somewhat decent look)

So I guess if anyone's in a bind they could see what Mazda is offering instead of the Toyo tires Infiniti sells.

$550…sold!

 

By the way, I just got some snows from Tire rack. I was all set to get the Hak R for $575 installed on my stock 17".

Then I went one last time to Tire rack and searched for 215 55 R17 and up came Dunlop WS-50 snows. They are the older ones from last year. They must have gotten some in or something. They are selling for $75 each!!! Closeout special.

$350 for 4 WS 50 shipped. I am not complanining one bit.

I am sure they are noisier than the new ws-60's. That's ok though, they got great reviews and sevearl people have used them. They won't get here until begin of Novemenber but I guess I can hold off.